Yvette Cooper: Theresa May's Qatada strategy has brought us back to square one

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper says Home Secretary Theresa May's legal strategy on Abu Qatada has brought the Government's bid to deport him to Jordan "back to square one" after it lost its appeal to overturn a decision allowing the radical preacher to stay in the UK.

6:33PM GMT 27 Mar 2013

The Government's battle to deport hate preacher Abu Qatada from the UK is to rage on after appeal judges rejected the latest in a long line of attempts to remove him.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: "This is an extremely serious and disappointing judgment which rips apart Theresa May's strategy for deporting Abu Qatada and contradicts her repeated assurances to Parliament that her approach would get him swiftly on to a plane.

"According to security experts, the Home Secretary and the courts, this is an extremely dangerous man, and we all want him to be deported to stand fair trial abroad as soon as possible and to be held in custody in the meantime. People will rightly be extremely frustrated that the deportation appeal has failed today."

She added: "There is cross-party agreement about the importance of deporting Abu Qatada and protecting the public. Everyone agrees that the court processes have taken too long. But we cannot afford further confusion or mistakes.

"The Home Secretary needs to pursue all legal avenues, demonstrate further work with Jordan, take urgent action to keep the public safe, and get this deportation back on track."